Fuel weekly preview

Have had a bit of a hiatus due to family commitments, but here is the weekly Indy Fuel preview:

Current record: 3-8-3, 7th ECHL North Division

Last week: The Fuel went 0-3, falling to Orlando 4-1 on Wednesday at the Coliseum, then dropping two close games in Reading 4-3 and 2-1. Kirill Gotovets and Justin Holl had two goals each on the weekend. Mac Carruth, Cody Reichard and Sean Bonar all got starts in goal.

Fuel bits: Make sure to check out Tony Brown’s weekly release to get all the latest on the Fuel … The Fuel’s Matt White continues to lead the ECHL in shorthanded goals (2). … At 21.8% (12-55), the Fuel have the ECHL’s sixth-best power play. It’s clicking at 23.8% on the road. The PK is 22nd at 80.4% (41-51). … The “long-change” second period continues to be kind to Indy, which is outscoring teams 14-12 and outshooting them 151-126 in the middle frame … The Fuel rank 3rd in fewest PIM/game (12.9). … Cody Reichard stopped 62-of-66 shots last weekend and currently has a 3-4-1 record and a 2.66 GAA.

This week’s games
Thursday: at Fort Wayne Komets (11-4-0), 7:30 p.m., Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (Radio: WXNT-1430)Season series: Fuel trail 0-2-1
Meetings so far: 10/17 at Indy: FTW 5-4 OT; 10/18 at FTW: FTW 4-3; 10/26 at Indy: FTW 4-0The Fuel-Komets rivalry takes on a new chapter with a Thanksgiving Night showdown in Fort Wayne. It’s the fourth of 11 meetings this season between the two teams, and the second of six in Fort Wayne. The Fuel have had two solid performances against Fort Wayne on opening weekend, the third meeting was the third game in three days. Fort Wayne had a strong start to the season, but has lost two of its last three, including a 3-1 defeat to Greenville in its last outing. Fort Wayne is the league’s third-highest scoring team with 57 goals on the regular season. The Komets’ Shawn Szydlowski is tied for 7th in the ECHL in scoring (6-11-17). Eric Faille is eighth in rookie scoring (6-8-14). Nathan Condon had a goal and three assists in last week’s three games to lead the Komets. Paul Crowder and Mike Embach had a goal and an assist each. Goaltender Pat Nagle has had the majority of Fort Wayne’s starts, including all three starts last week. He is 7-3-0 with a 2.47 GAA. Fort Wayne is the ECHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche and AHL Lake Erie Monsters. Fort Wayne has a couple of familiar faces — forward Mike Embach played for the Indiana Ice in 2006-07, and forward Brett Perlini started the season with the Fuel. These teams will meet again in a week – on Saturday, Dec. 6 in Indy.

Friday/Saturday: vs. Cincinnati Cyclones (6-4-2), 7:35 p.m. both nights, Fairgrounds Coliseum (Radio: WXNT-1430, TV: HTSN-6.2)Season series: Fuel trail 0-1-0Meetings so far: 11/7 at Cincy: CIN 3-1
This marks the first two of six meetings between the Fuel and Cyclones that will be played in Indy — and the second and third of nine meetings overall between the two I-74 neighbors. The teams met three weeks ago, with Cincinnati winning 3-1. Mike Duco and Kirill Gotovets had assists in that game, with former Fuel player Brett Perlini scoring Indy’s goal. Josh Shalla, Bryan Froese and Stephan Vigier all scored for Cincinnati, which was backstopped by Rob Madore’s 16-save effort. Mac Carruth had 21 saves for Indy in that game. Cincy snapped an 0-3-2 skid with two wins last weekend, blanking Evansville 4-0 and then beating Kalamazoo 7-3. In the two games, Shalla had three goals and an assist. Froese had a goal and four assists and Zach Budish had a goal and three assists. Both Froese and Budish had four-point games against Kalamazoo. Christian Minella had three goals and an assist in the two games, including two in the 4-0 win over Evansville, in which Madore had a 24-save shutout. Madore is 4-2-2 with a 2.95 GAA. Froese (5-10-15) leads the Cyclones in scoring. Shalla (8-3-11) leads the team in goals, and Budish (1-9-10) leads in assists. Cincy is 4th in the ECHL in shots against/game (26.0). Cincinnati has two NHL parent clubs — the Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators (and their AHL affiliates in San Antonio and Milwaukee, respectively). After this weekend, the teams will meet again Dec. 26-27, with both games again in Indy.

Looking ahead: The Fuel continue a five-game homestand with three games next week, on Wednesday 12/3 against Evansville, followed by home games on Friday 12/5 against Florida and Saturday 12/6 against Fort Wayne. After that, the Fuel will spend the following weekend in the Sunshine State playing Orlando and Florida.

Moves: Last week saw a flurry of activity on the Fuel roster. Mac Carruth was assigned to the Fuel for Wednesday’s start against Orlando, then recalled to AHL Rockford. Sean Bonar was activated from IR. Jamie Wise was also activated from reserve. Brett Perlini was traded to Fort Wayne. Defenseman Nick Jones was recalled by AHL Worcester on Monday. ECHL teams are now allowed to carry 20 players on their active rosters after carrying 21 for the first month of the season.

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